A young mum who had half her thumb amputated when a black mark under her nail turned out to be melanoma is warning people of the dangers of skin cancer.

Under a picture of her holding up the blackened digit, Melanie Williams, 36, urged others to share the post and raise awareness.

Writing on Facebook, she said the mark had grown from nothing in just a few weeks.

At first she thought it was a fungal infection or a wart - only to discover it was a cancerous tumour that had to be removed along with most of her thumb. Luckily the tumour had not spread to other parts of her body.

Instead of asking for sympathy, the mother-of-three urged people to take the time to tell their friends and family to check any marks or go to the doctors themselves.

Writing before the operation, the woman from Lymm in Cheshire, said: "See that on my thumb? Do you know what it is?

"It's skin cancer. This grew from nothing in a matter of weeks. I thought it was just a fungal infection or a wart. Sadly not. I've been lucky, the cancer hasn't spread and it's being removed next week along with half of my thumb.

"This may have not been the case if I'd left it and not got it checked out. I don't want your sympathy, I want more awareness. Therefore, please go and get any changes or growths on your skin checked out, please tell people around you to get checked as well.

"Don't leave it to chance or make excuses! I will be fighting fit in no time but if I'd left it, I may have been losing more than a thumb.

"So please, don't leave comments about how brave I am or how sorry you are, instead take that time to share this or tell someone they need to get checked or make that phone call to the doctors for yourself.........Ps. If anyone knows where I can get a mini hook attachment for my stubby thumb give me a shout!"

The post has already been shared 76,349 times and liked 12,721 times.

Sean Roberts commented: "It's a good job you got it checked out, it's definitely an important message. We're all guilty of leaving things too long when it comes to illness. I've shared it anyway, hopefully it will help folks out."

Allie J Taylor added: "I'm stunned...... lt looks so innocent ... how wrong could I be. Will share this around the north east and good luck hun."

Jenny Newton commented that it looked as though she had just slammed her thumb in a door.

Melanie, who is currently a full time carer to her autistic son, commented she was overwhelmed at the support her mission to raise awareness of skin cancer.

She said: "Its amazing. It's gone so far. I've not stopped getting messages from people everywhere! If I'd have known how much it was going to be shared I would have at least put some makeup on."

In an update, she added she had now had the operation but may have to have more of the thumb removed.

She said: "I had my op today but it turns out I may need more of my thumb taken than first expected. I'm due to have more tests done in the next week, so will have to see where we go from there. Thank you to everyone who shared this post.

"Totally lost for words (for those who know me, this is rare) on the response it has received. I feel proud of everyone who's shared and taken note because of the awareness it's raised! You lot rock!!! Xxx"